Negative pressure therapy has been one tool used for the treatment of a variety of wounds by practitioners in the art. Conventional devices are generally large in size and often require the use of complicated equipment such as suction pumps, vacuum pumps and complex electronic controllers. Other associated equipment may include wound liquid/exudate collection canisters, liquid transporting conduits, and pressure regulators/transducers/sensors. As a result, such devices may be bulky, power intensive, relatively costly and substantially non-disposable. Furthermore, the complexity of conventional devices requires steady patient supervision and that initial placement and any changing of the devices be conducted by a physician or nurse. At present, a typical cost for the use of these devices is on the order of about $100 per day per patient.
The rising costs of healthcare and of medical devices place pressure on patients and care providers alike to seek out solutions that allow use by a patient in-home, with less supervision. Furthermore, patients continue to demand devices that are more easily portable to allow travel and mobility.